"Poly Voices"

Curated by Lungs Project

Featuring Kariim Case // Laura Hyunjhee Kim // Müge Yıldız

9 October 2018, 7 - 9 pm

@Cobalt Studios

10-16 Boyd Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1AP

Lungs Project is proud to present an evening of film screenings in conjunction with the launch of our third issue. "Poly Voices" brings together three filmmakers selected from an international open call under a three-part, thematic framework. Featured artists are Kariim Case, Laura Hyunjhee Kim, and Müge Yıldız.

Part 1: Waiting Room

This section of the event includes a series of nine videos by Korean-American artist Laura Hyunjhee Kim. Kim's humorous works with the Do-It-Yourself, amateur aesthetics of the Internet utilise consumer electronics in production and draw inspiration from viral memes, lo-fi pop music, narrative found-footage film, and kitschy low-budget commercials. She aims to explore emerging trends and patterns in ubiquitous consumer-grade technology to capture the underlying dreams and desires that continue to influence (non)human life and existence. All selected works by Kim feature unique, thematic soundtracks resembling a blend of Korean pop and waiting room music, and are intended as an introduction to Kim’s playful visual and auditory style.

Running Time: 18’28”

Part 2: Masculine Vulnerability

Emerging filmmaker Kariim Case presents his short film entitled “Take Me to The Water”. This film looks to explore Black masculinity and the construction of self. Inspired by the work of some pioneering Black artists such as Marlon Riggs and Carrie Mae Weems, the film focuses on three sections of Case's life, childhood, adolescence and adulthood; with each section looking to find out who and what formed the man that he is today, while at the same time challenging the stereotypes society often attribute to Black men. This episode aims to unpack the notion of masculine vulnerability through Case’s eyes. In this section, we intend to scrutinise the social norms governing how men experience and express their emotions. “Take Me to The Water” stems from a sense of homesickness and desire to connect with a home (physical and ancestral) while trying to find ways to express the artist’s contradictions and vulnerabilities without the fear of being stereotyped, directly challenging the audience at times. In the beginning of the film, Case will make a short introduction to his work and he will be available to take questions from the audience afterwards.

Running Time: 17’21”

Part 3: Deterritoralised Voices

This episode features "Inside / Outside - What is Love?" by Turkish filmmaker Müge Yıldız. The film takes place in Tarlabasi, a historically marginalised, Kurdish heavy neighbourhood of Istanbul with high rates of violence and conflict; an area of the city full of pain from the past currently undergoing a process of forced gentrification due to the Turkish government’s urban renewal law which causes its residences to be displaced. In the film, the artist walks into local shops and casually starts chatting to owners about their idea of love. The film, however, only features the passers-by outside, capturing the day to day rhythm of the neighbourhood, accompanied by displaced monologues. Without any manipulation, Yıldız observes these spaces in their own time, every moment of the film has its own destiny.

The episode is characterised by a cacophony of voices rising from the city of Istanbul. The film in this section is primarily determined by a high level of objectivity, not interpreting but showing, presenting collages, snippets and vignettes. Yıldız's usage of the voice relies on creating an auditory urban landscape as well as conveying a collective message isolated from the individuality of the ones who deliver it. Yıldız's vision is to raise awareness of forceful urban developments in Istanbul under Erdogan's totalitarian regime and to give a voice to those often kept in the margins at a safe distance from the ideology.

Running Time: 22’30”

Total Running Time: 58’19”

Kariim Case graduated from the Manchester School of Art with a degree in Film & Media. Inspired by noted artists such as Steve McQueen, Marlon Riggs, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Solange and John Akomfrah, he strives to create works that examine and explore the self, black masculinity and representation.

Laura Hyunjhee Kim is a Korean-American multimedia artist who playfully engages the DIY aesthetics of the Internet and renders familiar physical experiences into fabricated (non) existent digital spaces. She received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and is a PhD student in Inter-media Art, Writing and Performance (IAWP) at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Media, Communication and Information.

Müge Yıldız is an Istanbul based visual artist using film, video and archive footage to explore political, ethnographic and philosophical themes. Her work with moving images and photography results in cinematic installations that strive to become lieu de mémoire (site of memory). She holds a BA in Cinema and is currently working towards an MA in Philosophy from Galatasaray University, Turkey.

Cobalt Studios based in Newcastle upon Tyne, facilitates and showcases culture by developing space to host artists and audiences. Led by a collective of artists, the building contains 14 high quality studios, an arts venue and a top floor project space.

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